Read More

Tips for East Midlands Airport

The study states: "Surface and air samples were collected weekly at three different time points during the peak period of seasonal influenza in 2015–16 in Finland."

The researchers took samples from different surfaces throughout the airport such as plastic trays, the trolley handles used for luggage, the buttons of an elevator and the touch screen on the check-in machine.

It was found that out of the eight plastic trays tested, four of them contained the nucleic acid of at least one respiratory virus - making them the highest potential health risk for passangers.

The study highlights also "to your knowledge, security trays are not routinely disinfected", and suggests that the airports could reduce the risk of transferring germs by offering hand sanitizer containing alcahol.